But Baltimore City because of its other public health plague—unceasing crime and violence—could doubly use a patron saint, And who better than Mother Mary Lange, foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence to fulfill that role?

It is time for Mother Mary Lange to be canonized a saint in the Catholic Church.

We are urging persons of good will, irrespective of their faith to write to Pope Francis and urge him to canonize Mother Mary Lange as the first African-American saint recognized by the Catholic Church.

Please address Pope Francis as Your Holiness and write him at Saint Martha House, 00120 Citta del Vaticano, Vatican City or Your Holiness, Pope Francis at Apostolic Palace 00120 Vatican City,

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is the first Catholic diocese in the United States.

The United States of America elected its first African- American president in 2008; it is time that the Catholic Church catch up.